The Augustins, as always, herald spring

Updated 9:17 pm, Friday, May 2, 2014

Spring has sprung (I think), and with it the opening of my favorite place, Augustine's farm. According to Kathy Augustin, they plan to open Memorial Day week. I hope there will be no more snowstorms to hold things up.

At the moment, those wonderful eggs are available, including the araucana eggs, or as Kathy calls them, Easter eggs, in several colors all season long. They can be blue, green, pink or peach. Soon there will be early lettuce, and also spinach, herbs, Swiss chard and other vegetables, all by Memorial Day. I also pick up the salad dressing, jams and jellies, and other items not usually associated with a farm, and don't forget pansies are in now. I thank the Augustins for keeping the farm going, as it tells us that all is not lost in our town.

The Greenwich Preservation Trust also tells us that all is not lost, thus to celebrate National Historic Preservation Month, they will host cocktails at Stoneybrook, one of our historic houses on Taconic Road, on Sunday, I hope in the fabulous gardens. The house and gardens were the result of the late Mrs. Hillman's outstanding work.

This year, Nancy Smith will be presented with the Preservation Leadership Award, in recognition of her outstanding commitment to historic preservation in the town, especially in Belle Haven, where her family owned three properties, including the Mead Homestead built in 1889, where she lived, and the famous barn, which held all the Pryer dolls from a previous owner.

The Mead Homestead is a fond memory of mine as, growing up in Belle Haven, I used to visit the Mead sisters with my grandmother. As if it were yesterday, I recall with pleasure riding atop horses that were used to plow the inside circle of Field Point Park, still Mead owned. A ride in the electric car belonging to the sisters was also a thrill for me.

It seems to me that the world wants "easier" to be the new yardstick. Take golf.

The TaylorMade people, according to the New York Times, want to make the hole bigger. Of course they make golf equipment, and the more players the merrier, since golf, because of the expense, is losing some. I must say, one doesn't see this on the golf courses, although even the Professional Golfers Association of America is concerned. The hole has been a famous part of golf since the whole thing started in Scotland. A good drive is wonderful, but when one makes a long put, it lifts the spirit a long way. I do hope the hole will stay the same.

Then take what happened at the Winter Olympics, when there were complaints about the difficulty of a downhill course. I did not understand this, given the danger inherent in the crazy goings-on on skis and snowboards, with contestants flying through the air while performing all kinds of somersaults and other dangerous maneuvers.

I was not surprised with Credit Suisse hoarding billions belonging to the super rich. That has been going on for a long time, and is one of the ways that special breed has been saving taxes that others have to pay. An article made one think this was new. Not by a long shot.

Don't forget Grandiflora, the Glory in the Garden garden tour by the Garden Education Center of Greenwich on June 5. The day before, there will be a cocktail party at a private home in town.

An article that made me wonder was the news that dogs now have brains that can solve puzzles and reason their way to food. Evidently they can be taught tic-tac-toe, which will encourage problem-solving and increase eye-paw-mouth coordination, and there are places that will teach agility training.

Well, I have had dogs all my life, and they all have been agile and have understood me better than I do myself.

Norma Bartol, a former Greenwich Time reporter and columnist, lives in the backcountry. Her column appears on alternating Fridays. Her email address is normamrfi@gmail.com.